White Van: Corinne Halbert

Painter/Illustrator Corinne Halbert has been turning minds, eyes, and mind's eyes with her incredible delivery of erotic horror. From Hate Baby to commercial work for juggernauts like Seth Rogan, Corinne has a uniquely identifiable style that is both original and totally awesome.

All week we'll be featuring participating collaborative artists for the White Van Custom Vans & Custom Van Art Show happening at the brewery on Saturday, May 12 at 6PM

1. What does a typical day look like for you?

I work four days a week at Quimby’s Bookstore in Chicago, which I love and feel very lucky to be there. So if it’s a day I work at Quimby's I’ll put in an 8 hour shift, go to the gym after on some days and then head home for dinner. Then I try to work for at least 3 hours or more on art. If it’s a day off from Quimby's I sleep in and then get up and start working on paintings or art related tasks pretty much right away and continue working for most of the day. Tuesdays are my Post Office day so I get up and pack all the orders from my webstore, and then head to the post office to ship everything off.

2. How does where you live impact your creativity?

I work at home in my apartment because a separate studio has never worked well for me so it effects the size and medium of my pieces. I work smaller and use gouache, water color and India ink on paper because I don’t have the space to store large canvas pieces. I'd love to work in oils more but it's difficult without having more room to dedicate to an oil painting set up. Scott, my husband and I are hoping to get a house at some point. He's an amazing artist and he wants to create a screen printing area when we get our own house. A larger space would open up a lot of really cool possibilities for both of us.

3. What advice would you give to a young person starting out?

Keep going. That’s my life motto and especially pertains to my art practice. In today’s world where many of us have become so accustomed to seeking and receiving instant gratification from posting on social media, it’s easy to want to get things done quickly. Becoming a good artist takes time, hard work and practice. Keep drawing, keep painting, keep doing whatever it is you love and at the very least you will improve your skill set of your craft over time.

4. What have you sacrificed to get here?

A social life, ha! I very rarely go out any more and it’s been that way for years. I almost always prefer to head home after working my day job to sit down at my drawing desk. I do attend some events and always strive to make it out to more. My husband and I have a couple that we are close friends with that we hang out with regularly, watch movies and grab dinners etc. But aside from that I’m at home working on my art or watching movies with Scott with most of my free time.